These Greenest Boughs of Holly, and of Ivy, and of Yew
by blackdragonsghost
Summary: Long before humans were around to dream up the idea of pagan gods, when Gabriel was sad and none of his brothers could talk him into feeling better, Lucifer used to bring him candy to make him smile again. Pre-canon, Eden!fic, and lots of brotherly feels. Based on a gorgeous piece of art I came across.


_Author's Note: This fic was written after seeing the heartwarming piece "Precious Sweet" by MugenMusouka on DeviantArt. It's a wonderful picture, and very sweet, but it just about broke my heart because we all know how the story ends... or at least, how it did in canon. I like to think that maybe if this actually took place, when he got out of his Cage Lucifer would remember not to be such a meanie and stop before he killed Gabriel. I can dream, can't I? Anyway, hope you like it, MugenMusouka! _

_Warnings: None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. How weird is that? I actually wrote a fic with absolutely no warnings. Man, forget Gabe and Luci - now __**I'm**__ OOC. _

_A.N.2: Fic title is a line from "Holly, Ivy, and Yew" by the lovely Heather Dale. _

_A.N.3: Oh my Chuck, I wrote gen!fic. Sweet, innocent brotherly love. What's happened to me? Have I lost my touch completely? Aw, well. I'm sure I'll be back to my usual antics before long. I'm pretty sure this is the lowest rating of any fic I've ever posted, but who's counting, right? It also turned out way longer than I was expecting, but I suppose that's definitely a good thing. _

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There was a reason that, even thousands of years in the future, humans would still remember the Garden of Eden as the epitome of lush fertility. It was a wondrous place: a place separate from Heaven, but not quite part of the newly created Earth, a haven of beauty and life. All the creatures that God was working on could be found there, frolicking in harmony under cloudless skies - it was the perfect environment, allowing the Father of all life to see how well a creation might flourish before He turned it loose on His newborn world. The Earth was still young, after all, and sparsely inhabited, with a climate that could sometimes be harsh and unforgiving; if He wanted to see how much potential a new species really had, He had to let it begin here, before facing the hardships of Earth. These days, He rarely left the lush landscape of meadows and forests, preferring to watch over His experiments here and leave the running of Heaven to those of His children whom He already knew could take care of themselves.

It also made a fine haven for those angels who wished to escape from the all-seeing eyes of the Host for a time.

Today, there was only one less than perfect sight in that vast land of radiant, untamed beauty. Atop a low hill, in the middle of a copse of lively holly trees, an angel was huddled at the base of a tree trunk. He was young, and small even for his age: his eight shining, brilliantly gold wings marked him as an archangel, but they were drooping and dull today, the torrents of gleaming feathers spilled over the grass like carelessly strewn bolts of silk. They were folded every which way, some of them not even folded at all but simply splayed across the ground in utter disarray, a sure sign of distress even if one overlooked the way the angel's slim shoulders trembled every now and then. His face was buried in his drawn-up knees, his arms wrapped around his legs and his body curled over on itself as though he were trying to hide from the world.

The angel was crying silently, but even so it wasn't long before another angel found him. This angel was clearly older; he came into view gliding slowly and smoothly overhead, huge silvery-blue wings spread wide and arched to catch the thermal currents as he scanned the ground below with sharp crystal-blue eyes. He caught a glimpse of golden feathers between the aspen leaves and smiled sadly, curling his wings down on one side as he banked and began to circle down.

He landed just outside the copse, so silently that the gold-winged angel did not even look up. The silver-winged angel hesitated a moment, vivid blue eyes soft as he stood, light blond hair ruffling in the breeze as he watched the other angel. Then, sighing, he tucked his shimmering wings close against his back and moved forward on light feet, approaching the younger angel like a hunter drawing near a dozing unicorn.

"Gabriel?"

At the sound of his name, the gold-winged angel startled instantly, feathers flaring as he started to scramble to his feet - at the sight of the other angel, though, he slumped back down, blinking tear-wet amber eyes as he said weakly, "Oh. Hi, Luc. Thought you were someone else."

Biting back his reflexive reply to that, Lucifer padded over the soft grass and, when he wasn't shooed away, crouched down next to his brother. He studied his little brother for a moment, then reached out, smoothing a few errant strands of gold-brown hair back from where they had tangled around the delicately swirled golden circlet that the youngest Prince of Heaven wore. "What's got you so worked up, little one?"

Gabriel bit his lip, his gaze dropping shyly to the emerald grass as he shrugged weakly. Lucifer frowned, concerned, and he let his hand fall to Gabriel's shoulder, brushing a stray leaf from the collar of his soft woven cotton thistle-purple robe. The garment's color had been Michael's order: the slightly garish golden rope belt, the ends strung with beads of turquoise to match the stones on his circlet, was all Gabriel. Lucifer could feel the warmth of his brother's Grace through the fabric of the robe, the gentle swell of energy churning in distress, and he waited, knowing that eventually Gabriel would talk.

Sure enough, a few moments later, Gabriel's soft voice broke the silence. "Michael said that Father was done with most of the animals on Earth right now. He said that He came up with a bunch of new reptiles, that He's going to get rid of the old ones."

Lucifer closed his eyes for a moment, repressing the urge to blaspheme. Michael meant well, Lucifer knew that, but sometimes the oldest archangel was just so _dense_. Anyone with half a brain could have seen that that particular piece of news would upset Gabriel. Sighing, Lucifer nodded slowly and opened his eyes again. "Including the Fan Lizards."

"Including the Fan Lizards." Gabriel said, sniffling a little. "I don't see _why_, though, there's nothing _wrong_ with them! I like them! They're funny when they waddle around all fast, and their fans are so pretty!" More tears were welling up in Gabriel's eyes, and he looked like was about to start sobbing again at any moment.

Firmly resisting a momentary urge to wrap Gabriel up in his wings and coo over him like a mother bird, Lucifer couldn't help but pull his brother into a light hug. "I'm sorry, little one - I know you're fond of them, but you know how Father is once He makes a decision. Don't worry too much, though, Gabriel - I heard that He's planning on making a lot more creatures like the Fan Lizards, only much bigger and stronger. There's even going to be one that has a fan too, except that it walks on two legs and it's far, far bigger." When Gabriel mumbled something moderately despondent into his shoulder, Lucifer thought of something, and pulled back a little with a small smile on his face. "Ah. I know something that might make you feel better: a surprise I've been meaning to give you."

Despite his sadness, Gabriel perked up a bit at that: Lucifer's surprises were always the best. Out of all their brothers, archangel or otherwise, Gabriel and Lucifer had the most in common. Gabriel often thought privately that it would probably stay that way, no matter _how_ many more angels Father said that He planned to make. That meant that Lucifer's surprises were the best, because he knew best of all what Gabriel would like. Lucifer's smile widened when he saw a hesitant sparkle come back to Gabriel's eyes, and he knew he'd make the right move.

Reaching into a hidden pocket sewn cleverly into the side of his own forest-green robe, Lucifer pulled out a strange object: a fat disk of some kind, mounted on the end of a wooden stick, the whole thing carefully wrapped in some kind of shiny translucent cloth-like material. The disk was about an inch thick, and roughly the diameter of Gabriel's spread hand: it was a riot of orange and yellow streaks, all swirled together like a melting sunrise. Gabriel stared at it, fascinated, his tears beginning to dry as his attention was drawn to this new subject.

"What's that, Luc?"

Lucifer winked slyly at his now-intrigued little brother, glad to see the distraction was working. If there was one thing he hated, it was to see his little brother cry: it made his Grace ache worse than anything else, certainly far worse than when Father was angry at him for some misdeed or another. "It's something I snuck out of one of the experimental workshops." he confided, watching Gabriel's eyes light up instantly at the implication that it was something not exactly approved of by their stern older brother - Michael was very strict about not taking anything from the experimenters before it had been properly tested. Despite the fact that nothing really dreadful had cropped up since the angels started exploring their Father's newly-created world (certainly nothing worse than that awful drink their baby brother Balthazar had mixed up when the older angels weren't paying attention), Michael would always be a stickler for rules. "The food division came up with it: they call it a 'lollipop'. I think you'll like it."

Curiosity fully engaged now, Gabriel reached out to take it from Lucifer, unwrapping it eagerly and giggling a bit at the crinkling sound that the stiff covering made. Lucifer watched with a pleased, indulgent smile as Gabriel finally got the candy unwrapped and then brought to his mouth, licking tentatively at the hard, sticky surface.

His amber eyes popped wide open, and he made a sound of pure delight as pure sweetness exploded over his tongue. The lollipop was hard yet melting at the same time, a thick layer of fruit-flavored delight coating his tongue when he licked at the candy's surface. Making a high-pitched noise not unlike a delighted baby bird, Gabriel looked up at his brother with huge eyes: Lucifer was laughing, deeply amused at his stunned-looking little brother's reaction.

"It's good?"

"This is awesome, Luc!" Gabriel exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear as he licked at the lollipop a few more times then jammed as much of it into his mouth as he could, suckling at it and moaning at the delicious flavor. Still chuckling softly, Lucifer finally shifted to sit down and lean back against the tree trunk beside his brother. He slung an arm around Gabriel's shoulder, pulling the younger angel close with a smile on his face, happy to see Gabriel's wings finally perking up and vibrating a little with the younger angel's enjoyment.

Gabriel cuddled up against Lucifer's side without protest, making happy little cooing noises around his candy when Lucifer reached over and began to stroke his wings. Smoothing his hand through the soft golden feathers a few times, Lucifer gently wrapped his fingers around the bone and carefully drew the wing forward, folding it over Gabriel's shoulder and draping it across his own lap so that he could reach the sensitive coverts and fluffy down more easily. Gabriel practically purred at the attention, body arching a little before he readjusted and settled back down, stretched out like a cat on his side with his head tucked up against Lucifer's ribcage and his arm thrown across his big brother's waist. Lucifer chuckled softly, freeing one hand from the mass of gilded feathers for a moment to brush a stray lock of hair back from Gabriel's forehead. One amber-bright eye popped open and swiveled to look up at Lucifer, the shapely eyebrow above it quirking questioningly.

"Wha?" the younger angel mumbled, mouth still stuffed full of candy.

Lucifer shook his head, smiling fondly. "Nothing, brother." he murmured, dropping his raised hand back into Gabriel's feathers and running both hands gently through the feathers, straightening the rows and smoothing warm, thin oil through the silky pinions. "Nothing at all."

They stayed there until sunset began to turn the Garden's skies a brilliant mixture of ruby and amethyst. Lucifer groomed one wing after another, cleaning out the dust of flight and the fallen leaves from the grove and straightening the disarray caused by wind and Gabriel's mischevious antics. Gabriel's earlier melancholy had evaporate without a trace, and he even returned the favor, tweaking a few misplaced feathers in his older brother's much neater wings. Grooming was relaxing and pleasant for all angels, and the archangels were no exception: it was impossible for Gabriel to stay gloomy when he was getting preened, and Lucifer knew it. The return attention was just a bonus. Finally, at dusk, Gabriel sighed and stretched luxuriously, shaking off his lazy torpor to smile up at his brother. "Thanks, Luc." he said quietly, eyes bright and sparkling: Lucifer smiled back, knowing his brother wasn't just referring to the lollipop, or to the grooming.

"Don't mention it." he said affectionately, ruffling Gabriel's hair one last time before he stretched himself and climbed to his feet, pulling the other angel up with him. "Race you back to the palace, little one?"

"Last one there has floppy feathers!" Gabriel whooped, taking off in a clap of wings and a swirl of fallen leaves. Lucifer laughed, spreading his own wings and stroking them down powerfully, lofting up over the treetops and speeding off after his brother's shining form.

Not far away, a figure standing behind a lone pomegranate tree on the yellow-grass plain watched the young archangels dart through the evening like glittering stars, and He smiled. Looking at His beautiful, shining sons, not even God Himself noticed the deepening shadows that were falling over the peaceful Garden, as night came creeping slowly into Heaven.

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_A.N.5: The creature that Gabriel referred to as a Fan Lizard is a Dimetrodon, a species of large reptile(ish) that predated the dinosaurs. They actually went extinct about 40 million years before the Triassic period, when the first dinos showed up. Despite looking more like a reptile, they were actually biologically closer to being mammals, although they weren't technically either: scientists classify them by the highly impressive name 'Mammal-like Reptiles'. Fancy, huh? I could see Gabriel liking them, though, they were very flashy with those giant sails on their backs and they were quite impressive predators in their day. Aaaand, my inner geek is showing again. Whoops. As for why it's not called a Dimetrodon here... would the angels really have used the same names for creatures as humans later would? I doubt it. _


End file.
